All Chapters of Blood of the dragon I :Dark encounter : Chapter 11
- Chapter 18
18 chapters
Chapter 11
What Remains*********Morning did not come gently.Kael woke to the ache first—the kind that sat deep in the bones, not sharp enough to scream but steady enough to remind him he was still alive. Cold stone pressed against his back. The sky above was pale, undecided, caught between night and day.For a moment, he didn’t move.He listened.Wind through dry grass. A bird calling somewhere far off. No soldiers. No chanting. No fire.Just quiet.That unsettled him more than noise ever had.He sat up slowly. His cloak was stiff with dried sweat and dirt. When he flexed his fingers, the scales along his knuckles caught the light, dull and dark like old metal. They no longer shocked him. That worried him too.Kael rose and walked to the edge of the outcrop. From here, the land stretched wide and honest. Small farms. Thin roads. Smoke from breakfast fires. Ordinary lives beginning their day without knowing how close the world always was to breaking.He wondered how many of them would hate him
Chapter 12
Ash and Quiet Things*******Kael didn’t go far before night caught him.The land dipped into a shallow basin where the wind thinned and the grass lay flat, pressed down by years of passing feet. He built a small fire there—low, careful, hidden. Old habits from a life that no longer fully belonged to him.As the flames settled, exhaustion crept in. Not the kind sleep fixed. The kind that lived behind the eyes.He had just finished cleaning his blade when he sensed her.Not fear. Not threat.Presence.“You’re terrible at hiding,” a voice said softly from the dark.Kael stood in one smooth motion, sword half-drawn.A woman stepped into the firelight.She was wrapped in a travel cloak, hood down, hands visible. Dark hair braided loosely over one shoulder. Her face was calm in a way that came from practice, not peace.“I followed you from the valley,” she said. “Before you decide whether to kill me—don’t. I’m tired.”Kael studied her. No weapon drawn. No tension in her stance.“Why follow
Chapter 13
The Space Between Steps******** They left before sunrise. Not because they were in a hurry, but because neither of them said otherwise. The land was cool and gray, the kind of morning where the world felt unfinished. Dew clung to the grass. Mira walked a few paces ahead, her cloak brushing softly against her boots. Kael followed, keeping his distance without really meaning to. They didn’t talk much at first. The path narrowed as it climbed, cutting between low stone ridges. Kael stayed alert, senses stretched thin. He felt the dragon awake but calm, like a presence watching from behind his eyes rather than pushing forward. She steadies you, it murmured. Be wary of anchors. Kael ignored it. After an hour, Mira slowed. “You favor your left side,” she said. Kael blinked. “I don’t.” “You do,” she replied gently. “It’s subtle. But it’s there.” He considered denying it. Then shrugged. “Old injury.” “May I?” He hesitated, then nodded. She examined his side with care, fingers
Chapter 14
What She Saw********Kael woke before the danger announced itself.It wasn’t sound that stirred him. It was pressure—like the air had thickened while he slept.The fire had burned low. Gray ash pulsed faintly red at its center. Mira lay a few steps away, wrapped in her cloak, one hand tucked beneath her chin. She looked peaceful in a way that made Kael hesitate to breathe too loudly.Then the dragon shifted.Not a voice this time. A presence rising. Heavy. Awake.Kael stood slowly and stepped away from the fire.The night was wrong. Too still. Even the rain had stopped, leaving the world damp and holding its breath.You are being measured,the dragon said.Do not flinch.“I didn’t ask for this,” Kael whispered.The air warmed.It started in his chest, then spread outward, subtle but unmistakable. His heartbeat deepened, slower, heavier. The scars along his ribs burned, not painfully, but insistently—like something knocking from the inside.Kael clenched his fists.He did not notice M
Chapter 15
Fire, Held BackThey didn’t have long.The first sound came just after dawn—a horn, low and distant, carried on the morning air. Kael felt it in his bones before his ears caught it.The Order.Mira looked up sharply. “That’s not a trader’s call.”“No,” Kael said. “It’s a boundary signal.”He stood, already scanning the ridgeline. Movement. Too coordinated to be bandits. White cloaks broken by steel. Six—no, eight.“They tracked you,” Mira said.“They always do.”The dragon stirred, pleased.At last,it said.Do not starve me now.Kael’s jaw tightened. “I won’t burn them all.”You may not have a choice.The soldiers descended the slope in a practiced arc. Not rushing. Confident. They believed they had him cornered.Mira stepped closer to Kael. “Tell me what you can do.”He glanced at her. “You already saw.”“Not enough.”Kael inhaled deeply.“I can call it,” he said. “Fully. It won’t leave my body—but it will act through me. Fire. Force. Fear.”“And afterward?”He didn’t answer.That w
Chapter 16
The Hunter Becomes the HuntedThe next dawn brought a storm—not of weather, but of pursuit. The Order had regrouped, their banners scarred and blackened by rumors of Kael’s dragon-blood. Soldiers poured into the valley, moving with precision, their commander a shadow behind the front ranks.Kael and Mira had planned nothing except to survive. He moved silently along a ridge, the dragon’s presence humming low in his chest. Mira followed, her pace steady, eyes sharp. For the first time, they were not hiding merely from fire—they were hiding from certainty.“Do they know what you are?” Mira asked.Kael didn’t answer at once. He didn’t need to. The storm in the distance answered for him. Smoke drifted from the soldiers’ torches as they pushed forward, a signal of inevitability.The first clash came near a ruined stone wall. Kael stepped forward, heat rising just enough to warn, not to burn. Soldiers faltered. Steel bent and shields warped under the subtle pressure of the dragon within him
Chapter 17
The Choice**********Kael knew what had to be done. The dragon’s presence pressed constantly, reminding him that power demanded decision. And the world beyond the valley waited with consequences he could not avoid.They reached the edge of the city where the Order’s influence ran deepest. Mira’s hands brushed his as they passed under watchful eyes, a small comfort in the shadow of judgment. “Do you ever think you could have been ordinary?” she asked quietly.Kael shook his head. “Ordinary didn’t survive the fire.”The Order confronted him once more, this time with captives—innocent villagers coerced to draw him out. Anger surged, but Kael held it back. The dragon whispered in his mind, urging total annihilation. He refused.He acted with precision. Controlled fire, not to kill, but to warn, to destroy only what threatened the innocents. Soldiers fell back, stumbling over charred ground, smoke curling in arcs. The dragon hummed, hungry and frustrated, but Kael’s will remained intact.
Chapter 18
Embers and Dawn *********** The valley burned once more—this time, not by fire, but by choice. Kael had turned the Order away, negotiated their retreat through carefully planted evidence of his power and restraint. The city would not forget him, nor would the Order, but he had won freedom—for now. Mira stood beside him as dawn rose, golden light spilling across the hills. For once, the dragon was quiet. It rested in his chest, patient, observing, waiting. Kael could feel its presence as strength, not threat. He looked at her, truly looked. Not the healer. Not the observer. Not the cautious voice in the storm. Mira. Human. Solid. Real. And he realized he could carry her forward, as he carried fire—not as destruction, but as choice. “You could walk away,” she said softly. “Be like the rest of them.” Kael shook his head. “I can’t unsee what I’ve seen. I can’t undo what I’ve done. But I can choose what I become next.” She smiled faintly. Hand in his. The warmth between them